The King Family of Jackson County, Minnesota

WILLIAM V. KING (1866). One of the best known residents of the county is William V. King, a pioneer of forty-three years standing, who now lives a retired life in the county scat village, after living spent many active years in public life.

In Oldham, England, on September 26, 1831, our subject was born, the son of John and Hannah (Hilton) King. On the first day of April, 1835, the family set sail for the new world and upon their arrival located near Utica, New York. There until he was ten years old William lived with his parents, attending school and working for a short time in a factory. In 1841 he went to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and that was his home until his thirtieth year. During these years he was engaged in farm work, and teaching school. Moving to Crawford county in 1861, he engaged in farming, and the same year, upon the outbreak of the civil war, he took a position with the government as enrolling officer. In 1864 he enlisted in the 43rd Wisconsin volunteer infantry and served as first sergeant of his company until his discharge from the army, which occurred at Nashville, Tennessee, in July, 1865.

In the fall of 1865, soon after leaving the army, Mr. King took up his residence at Austin, Minnesota, and in May, of the following year, became a resident of Jackson county. He located in what is now organized as Wisconsin township and took as a homestead the southwest quarter of section 28, upon which he lived until 1873. Having been elected to the office of county auditor that fall, he moved to Jackson to assume the duties of the office. With the exception of two years spent in Hunter township, Jackson has been the home of Mr. King ever since.

During thirty-one years of his residence in the county Mr. King has held county office — a record held by no other man. Prior to his removal to Jackson he held the office of judge of probate six years; he was superintendent of schools two years; was county attorney two years; and held the office of county auditor twenty-one years. He owns property in the village of Jackson and eighty acres of land in section 24, Hunter township. Fraternally he is associated with the Masonic and Grand Army of the Republic organizations.

Mr. King was married in Walworth comity, Wisconsin, March 27, 1856, to Antonette L. Porter, who died in Jackson March 26, 1896. To this union were born the following named children: William P., NelUe G. (Davies), S. S. and John L. The second marriage of Mr. King occurred June 22, 1898, when he wedded Leonora E. Chittenden at Fairmont, Minnesota.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

WILLIE P. KING (1866), photographer and justice of the peace of Jackson, is one of the early day settlers of the county, having resided here forty-three years. He is a native of Adams, Walworth county, Wisconsin, and was born July 9, 1857, the son of William V. and Antonette L. (Porter) King.

When our subject was four years old he moved with the family from Walworth county to Crawford comity, Wisconsin. In 1864 he moved back to Walworth county and made his home with his grandparents, his father being in the army at the time. He moved from Wisconsin to Austin, Minnesota, in March 1866, and on the twelfth day of October following arrived in Jackson county. He resided on his father's homestead in Wisconsin township until 1872, and then moved to the village of Jackson, where he attended the village schools until 1878. That year he moved onto the farm in Hunter township, where he engaged in farming and sheep raising in partnership with his father. In 1882 he bought the farm, his parents at that time moving to Jackson, and conducted it alone until December, 1884.

On the last named date, on account of his wife's poor health, Mr. King moved to Jackson and for the next three years assisted his father in the county auditor's office. In the spring of

1887 he moved to Jasper, Minnesota, where he worked at carpenter work one year. From

1888 to the summer of 1891 Mr. King resided in Windom, working in a photograph gallery and serving part of the time as justice of the peace. He again located at Jasper in 1891 and from that time until the spring of 1896 was engaged in operating a photograph gallery in that town and serving as justice of the peace. He returned to Jackson in 1896 and the next year built on Main street and opened a photograph gallery, which he has since conducted.

Mr. King has often been called upon to serve in an official capacity and has been justice of the peace for a number of years. He was school treasurer in Hunter township from 1882 to 1885 and was elected court commissioner in 1896. He is foreman of Fire company No. 1, and has been a member of the Jackson fire department for twenty-four years.

Mr. King was married to Mary E. Trumbull in Jackson on January 1, 1882. She died February 28, 1887. To this union were born two children, Bessie, who died September 26, 1884, and Genevra M., who is now teaching school in

Pipestone county. Mr. King's second marriage occurred at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 1, 1892, when he married Mary Rovang, a native of Iowa. To this union have been born the following named children: Gracie P., William v., James H. P., Rignald G., Nellie T. A., Anna V., Irve R., Wilbur R. C. and Robert D. Mr. King holds membership in the K. P. and M. W. A. lodges. He served as a deputy organizer for the latter order for a number of years.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOHN L. KING (1870), editor and publisher of the Jackson County Pilot, is a native of Jackson county, having been born in a log house in Wisconsin township August 11, 1870. His father is William V. King, one of the county's early settlers, who now resides in Jackson. His mother was Antonette L. (Porter) King, who died March 26, 1896.

At the age of two years John accompanied the family to the village of Jackson and in that village he spent his boyhood days, receiving his education in the Jackson public schools. In July, 1888, he went to Jasper,

Merchant of JackEcn. Publisher of the Jackson County Pilot.

A Native of Jackson County, Clothing Merchant of Jackson,

Minnesota, where he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Jasper Journal and where he resided four years. Mr. King then went to Clifton, Kansas, where for a little less than two 'years he edited the Clifton Times.

In 1893 Mr. King returned to Jackson and the following year he accepted the position of deputy county auditor, serving under his father, William V. King, until January, 1897. On November 26, 1896, in partnership with J. C. McCroden, he bought the Jackson County Pilot, which was published under the firm name of King & McCroden until November 10, 1900. At that time Mr. King bought.his partner's interest and his since been sole publisher. He publishes the only democratic paper in Jackson county and has made the Pilot an influential agent in the affairs of the county.

Mr. King was appointed deputy oil inspector by Governor John A. Johnson in 1903 and has since held the office. For four years he was chairman of the democratic county central committee and he was a member of his party's state central committee two years. He is a director of the Jackson Building and Loan association and is treasurer of the Jackson Library board. He hold* membership in the Knights of Pythias lodge.

At Mankato on June 19, 1907, Mr. King was united in marriage of Miss Lillian F. Hurd, a native of Blue Earth county, Minnesota, and a daughter of Hiram A. and Celestia Hurd.

WHLIAM C. BUCHlVfANN (1881) has lived upon his present farm in Petersburg township nearly twenty-nine years. He is a German by birth and first saw the light of day November 16, 1864, being the son of William and Amelia (Hessler) Buchmann, both deceased. He came to the United States with his parents at the age of nine years. The family resided in the city of Chicago three months and then located in Wisconsin, where our subject lived eight years.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.